Sugar Ramos (left) was best known for his 1963 fight at Dodger Stadium with Davey Moore. (Source: AP)
Sugar Ramos, the Cuban featherweight champion whose fists led to two deaths in the ring, has died in Mexico City. He was 75. The World Boxing Council said he died Sunday of cancer.
Ramos was best known for his 1963 fight at Dodger Stadium with Davey Moore in which he first won the featherweight title. Ramos was battered by the champion in early rounds but came back to stop him in the 10th. Moore left the ring on his own but lost consciousness in his dressing room and went into a coma.
He died two days later, sparking an outcry about the safety of boxing. California Gov. Edmund Brown called for the sport to be banned. Bob Dylan later memorialized the bout in the song “Who Killed Davey Moore.”
Five years earlier in Cuba, Ramos stopped a fighter named Jose Blanco, who also died. Ramos’ real name was Ultiminio Ramos. He lived in Mexico after fleeing Cuba.
